Method of obtaining fiber from cocoanut-husks.



A. z. ROTHSCHILD. METHOD 0F OBTAINING FIBER FROMOGOANUT HUSKS.APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17, 1914.

1, 1 1 1,405, Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

ALEXANDER z. ROTHSCHILD, Io'isxsAN- rnANcIsc'o, oAmoRmA.

Specification. ofiietters Patent.

Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

Application led January 17, 1914. Serial No. 812,719.

T0 all 'whom it may concer-n Be it known that I, ALEXANDER Z. ROTH-SCHILD, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, inthecounty of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new anduseful Improvements in' `Fig. 3 is an end view of apparatus forconverting the crushed husk intov fiber; Fig. 4 is a front view of afeeder used in the lat- -ter apparatus; Fig. 5 is an end view thereof;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a detached section of a picking wheel.

' In carrying out my invention, the husks 1 of the cocoanut are placedin a steam box `or chamber 2, having suitable inlet and outlet pipes 3,4, for the steam, and are subjected to the action of the steam for a'period of not less than six hours. By this means said husks are softenedand rendered fit for the action of the crushing apparatus shown in Fig.2, which comprises cylinders 6 rotatably mounted in stationary bearingsupon a frame 7, one of said cylinders being rotated by means of a belt 8from any suitable source of power. The softened husks, passed betweenthe two cylinders, are strongly compressed and elongated thereby andemerge from between the cylinders in the form of long, flat strips 9.These strips 9 are passed between the cylinders 10 of a feeder, shown indetail in Figs. 4 and 5, said cylinders having at both ends gear wheels11 meshing with each other, whereby they rotate in unison, and the lowercylinder having a pulley 12 adapted to be rotated by a belt 13 around apulley 14 on a shaft 15 in bearings 16 on a frame 17 supporting thefeeder, said, shaft 15 being rotated by means of a pulley 18 driven by abelt 19 from any suitable source of power. The shafts of said feedercylinders rotate in halfround oppositely facing bearings 21, 22, theupper bearings 21 being pressed to- Ward the lower bearings 22 by meansof coiled springs 23 around stems 24 secured in said upper bearings andslidable through guides in the tops 26 of end members 27 of the feederframe 28, said springs being compressed between said upper bearings andtops. As each husk passes between said feeder cylinders 10 and to therear thereof, its. advancing end is impinged upon by spikes or pickers29 secured to picker sections 30 secured to a cylinder 31 connected byspokes 32 to a hub 33 on said shaft 15, a shield 34 surrounding theupper portion of said picker cylinder. These spikes or pickers, movingmuch more rapidly than the projecting ends of the husks, impinge uponsaid husks and comb the same into separate long fibers, shown at 36,while short fibers 37 and small particles drop therefrom into a hopper38, from which they descend into a chamber 39, in which rotates a wheel41, having radially extending vanes 42, and rotating by means of a belt43, which wheel causes the short fibers to descend in a chute 44, whilethe small particles fall on to a screen 46 forming the bottom of thechamber 39 and pass through said screen into a chamber 47, from whichthey can be removed periodically. When each husk has been advancedone-half its length through the cylinders 10 and subjected to thepicking action of the pickers, it is withdrawn by hand, and the otherhalf of the husk is in like manner inserted between the cylinders andsubjected t0 said picking action. By the above picking action the shortfibers and fine particles 4are separated from the long fibers, thelatter bein retained in the hand, while the former fal into the chamber39 in which the short fibers are separated from the fine particles anddust.

1. The method of obtaining fiber from cocoanut husks which consists inexposing the husk to contact with steam, then powerfully crushing thehusk, and then holding each end of the husk alternately whilesimultaneously pickin the remainder thereof.

2. The method o? obtaining fiber from cocoanut husks which consists in`exposing the husk to'contact with steam, then powerfully crushing thehusk, and then holding each end of the husk alternately While simy handin the presence of two subscribing nllultaneously pckig theIenlllan1ge1ucheI'eof, Witnesses. t ereby removin rom t e us `a exce tthe long fibers, nd then dividing the r- ALEXANDER Z' ROTHSCHILD 5 movedportion into short fibers and ne Witnesses:

particles. FRANCIS M. WRIGHT,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set D. B. RICHARDS.

